Local Football Fan Literally Bleeds And Dies For His Team

When did we as a society decide we can no longer respect another one’s opinion?  So much so that it results in violence.

Sure, we can point to politics for these shortcomings, but I think it goes far beyond that.  Perhaps leadership in all aspects of life is to blame.  Our upbringing, teachings, mentors, and example in life create the person we become.  I know every generation says that “things today are different than when I was younger.”  A clique of sorts, but I believe that it’s more than just being different in this day in age.  It’s dangerous.

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One of the pastimes we lost during the pandemic was a normal sports schedule.  It doesn’t matter if you’re a school athlete, play professional sports, or are just diehard fans, sports give us an outlet to enjoy some friendly competition.  When that was disrupted, it was depressing.  Slowly we lean towards a little normalcy.

The schedules were altered which caused us to have NHL hockey in the summer.  That was weird.  We purchased cardboard cut-out likenesses of ourselves, family members, pets, and deceased fans to display in the stands during Major League Baseball games last summer.  The Master's golf tournament was moved from April to September.  Even the Kentucky Derby was rescheduled from its traditional first weekend in May competition.

And yes, our beloved National Football League returned to its glory.  Even adding an additional game to the regular schedule this year.  Or did it return to its glory?

When I heard about the deadly shooting in Philly last week over a football argument between a Philadelphia Eagles fan and New York Giants fan, I was heartbroken and pissed.

Without getting into the debate about how some view the Philadelphia sports fan as the result of that infamous Santa Clause snowball throw at an Eagles game back in the day, THIS should never happen.

An Eagles fan and a Giants fan were in line at Pat’s Steaks in South Philly.  Witnesses say an argument broke out, the two began to physically fight, then the one man, who was wearing a Philadelphia Eagles shirt pulled out his gun and shot the other.

As the shooter sped off, his victim laid on the sidewalk bleeding from his wounds and eventually died.  This whole incident was in plain sight of everyone sitting at the outside picnic tables eating their late-night cheesesteak.  Eventually, the shooter turned himself in.

What was the argument?  The Eagles suck?  The Giants suck?  I like my steak “wit”.  I like my steak “wit-out”.  Come on.  A person lost his life because his passion for something differed from another.  Neither was making a negative or even positive impact on the other person in the conversation.  Tragic and senseless.

Passion for anything is healthy.  We route for things and people in our lives all the time.  When it comes to sports, we bleed our teams’ colors.  Hello!  That is called a metaphor.  That doesn’t mean we can actually draw blood because we dislike the other person's passion.

I live in a New York Giants, Pittsburgh Steelers home.  We work, and we embrace the differences and competition.  Especially when the two teams match up on any given Sunday.  Go, Giants!

This is how we live...